Morning News Round-Up -- 5.25.10: 2-40-2 Head line Bold herej head line bold goes here and here's more headling bold jyg

The Bay Area News Group is very proud of itself today as it unveils a (growing) database of public employee salaries for much of the Bay Area. Expect lots of folks on the 18th Floor to be search the database today... and if you have time, you can see how much more many of these folks make than you.

Speaking of public employees...

Not a day can go by without some news coming out of the San Jose City Council District 5 race. Yesterday it was Aaron Resendez who was making public a conversation that he had with Councilmember Nora Campos' Chief of Staff Ryan Ford. (Nora Campos is candidate Xavier Campos' brother.) It wasn't a conversation as much as it was a dressing down of Resendez by Ford, according to Resendez. He has called on Councilmember Nora Campos for a public apology, which sounds like he deserves... even Kathleen says so. Ryan Ford should expect a congratulatory call from Cindy Chavez and Neil Struthers today, "Our little boy is all grown up..."
Also, our call for campaign mailers yielded some fruit, and since we are in District 5 already, here is a glimpse of how nasty the race has become... With all due respect to Pat Dando, do voters in District 5 know her name still? Do voters in District 10?

Scott Herhold can not resist apparently. He takes yet another shot, albeit from a different angle, at District Attorney Dolores Carr. This time, Herhold isn't talking about her fancy car or her lack of ethics, although these things find their way into the piece (ok, not the car stuff). He profiles a Deputy DA who wants her boss to lose... she joins 40 other Deputy DA's in wanting the same thing. 40 DA's and one columnist...

Speaking of issues of crime and justice, the Merc Editorial Board continues to review its sample ballot and come up with judicial nominations in todays paper. They choose JoAnne McCracken, Vanessa Zecher, and Julia Alloggiamento but absolutely positively do not want you to vote for Thomas Spielbauer. They went so far as to write: Don't vote for Thomas Spielbauer. Wow. Perhaps Speilbauer and District Attorney Dolores Carr could commisserate about being treated like shit from the same newspaper...

Willow Glen Middle School was at the center of the world yesterday. (Some would say that Lincoln and Minnesota are always the center of the world...) A student apprently wrote a "hit list" on a bathroom wall that sent everyone into high alert.

Matier and Ross at the Chronicle (and the entire Chronicle, come to think about it) loves writing negative stories about the 49ers wishes to move to Santa Clara... yesterday's story was about how much money the 49ers are spending on their campaign. Another way to look at it is they are spending all that money to get the hell out of San Francisco...

Violent crime is on a downswing, according to statistics in San Jose. Of course, if you read Protect San Jose, we are headed down the road of Oakland...

Mountain View is buying up land faster than a South Bay city trying to land a Major League Baseball team...

Assembly candidate Josh Becker gets a long write-up by Daily News Group reporter Will Oremus... and the story (obviously) includes a stop at University Cafe in Palo Alto... a.k.a. Becker's headquarters.

Admit it Palo Alto readers, you were at the City Council meeting last night when the Council was discussing the Stanford University hospitals' expansion plans... that must have been so much NIMBY fun... so much fun, in fact, that the Palo Alto City Council put more demands, euphemistically called "community benefits" on the growing list of things Stanford should do to make their project acceptable to Palo Alto... like a "revenue guarantee"...

It has been a while since we made fun of Palo Alto Weekly's Editor Jay Thorwaldson for his "blogging" -- but his recent chime-in on High-Speed Rail re-sparked our snarkiness. He has posted twice in 2010. Perhaps he is getting into this new-fangled technology thingy...

We put this towards the end because really, who cares: Newt Gingrich endorsed Meg Whitman. One has to believe that Whitman sold her 2012 Presidential endorsement down the river for this endorsement...

Finally, does pointing out the Merc's technical difficulties ever get old? Watch Dog doesn't think so... this was a headline for a breaking news story last night:

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.20.10: (Drug Free?) Post-Peloton Thursday...

Happy post-peloton Thursday to all of you... except Floyd Landis...

More coverage of the District 5 City Council race in San Jose... this time from Scott Herhold, who acknowledges that all the hoopla about the illegal mailings is backfiring on the idiots who did it, because Carrasco is getting all kinds of coverage on the news, on the radio, and everywhere else. Herhold also doesn't think that Shirakawa is the culprit, but does point out how silly/stupid the Grand Pooba's quotes were earlier in the week...

The Mercury News thinks that story is so important that for a period of time yesterday they posted it twice...

And the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is putting out a reward for any information about who done it... $5,000 to anyone of the stamp-licking interns who want to turn in their co-conspirators...

Manuel Herrera, another candidate in District 5, chimed in via a Letter to the Editor...

While everyone is focused on fake campaign mailers... there was a murder in the Tropicana parking lot earlier in the week and two folks were found dead due to gun shot wounds in Alum Rock... hopefully the candidates can keep their collective eyes on the ball...

As discussed yesterday, the Planning Commission in San Jose approved an EIR for Major League Baseball in downtown San Jose. There are some interesting things to be concluded by reading between the lines of last night's Planning Commission meeting where the EIR was approved 4-1:

• Thing 1 - Planning Commissioner Chris Platten voted against the EIR,
• Thing 2 - Planning Commissioner Hope Cahan was absent from the proceedings, and
• Thing 3 - Planning Commissioner and City Council candidate Xavier Campos was absent from the proceedings.

According to spies, all three Things are related as all three Planning Commissioners are Labor-allies on the Planning Commission. Perhaps the folks at the Labor Temple are using their support (or opposition) to MLB as leverage in their contract negotiations? That may be, but missing votes (Cahan and especially Campos) is a pretty lame way to go... we wonder where these folks learned the technique of "taking a walk"...

Speaking of EIRs, Stanford's massive development project around the hospital released their draft EIR yesterday... expect lots and lots and lots of community concern, tweaking of the project, and finally the eventual development of the project... welcome to Palo Alto...

It is unlikely that anyone who sees the new plans at Stanford will be underwhelmed, but that was the reaction down the road a bit by the Mountain View City Council who caught a glimpse of the plans for a new San Antonio Center there... that's probably not the reaction the developer Merlone Geier was looking for... On the bright side, it can only get better, right?

The County Superintendent Chuck Weis gets in on the political action in today's Letters to the Editor in the Merc, chiming in on behalf of Larry Aceves for State Superintendent for Public Instruction...

Cupertino is taking a step to make Silicon Valley air a little, (perhaps a lot) cleaner by monitoring more closely the air quality around the Lehigh Cement plant... or is it Lehigh Cement plan, as it read online yesterday...

A pension reform initiative is heading to the ballot in Menlo Park. Could this be a Silicon Valley trend among cash-strapped cities? Chuck Reed has been talking about asking voters in San Jose to vote to do away with the often-expensive binding arbitration...

Silicon Valley has some serious interest in the upcoming Republican primaries for US Senate and Governor. New polls are out together. The first one actually confirms what Steve Poizner said a few weeks back -- that his race against Whitman is tightening... The second has Carly Fiorina leading (slightly) over Tom Campbell, but within the margin of error... (Joey Lucas will explain everything later...)

Finally, the Merc Editorial Board also hands Tom Campbell some bad news... they don't like his less-than-thoughtful stance on Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. "We expected more of Campbell..."

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.6.10: Too...Many...Margaritas...

Oh, poor Mineta San Jose (International?) Airport. They are considering cutting positions, contracting out services, and generally driving Cindy Chavez absolutely bonkers... the proposed cuts/contracting could save a whole bunch of cash all in an effort to get airlines to start coming back, or at least to stop cutting flights...

And no amount of cutting or contracting out will bring Tapestry in Arts back this year apparently... it joins the fireworks display downtown as canceled events in San Jose...

Scott Herhold follows the County budget closer than some Supervisors do. Especially Supervisor George Shirakawa. (Remember, Herhold told the story about District Attorney Dolores Carr's car...) Shirakawa and his fiscally responsible staff, headed up by Eddie Garcia, are over budget and don't seem to know why, which is reassuring. The curious part is that Herhold's story doesn't mention the second in charge to Garcia: Xavier Campos. You'd think Campos would be able to deal with the budget in the office, y'know, because of the bang-up job he did as MACSA's Chief Operating Officer...

San Jose District 5 got the breakdown treatment this week, so did Districts 1 and 3 (from Joe Rodriguez), and now it is District 7's turn, where incumbent Madison Nguyen runs for that seat for the 17th time... John Woolfolk at the Merc has been very, very busy...

Speaking of the District 3 run-down, it seems Councilmember Sam Liccardo disagrees with some (or all) of what Joe Rodriguez wrote according to Liccardo's letter to the editor...

George Beattie, the not-nearly-as-much-fun successor to Bobby Lopez at the San Jose Police Officers' Association, writes for Protect San Jose about the back and forth and back and forth between the POA and the City of San Jose, with copies of the letters that are flying between North 4th and Santa Clara Street...

Guess what Steve Poizner's internal polls say? That he's catching up. Guess what Sarah Palin's polls said about her? That she was qualified... it doesn't make it so Steve, it doesn't make it so...

In other political news (about people way behind in the polls), Yoriko Kishimoto gets a write up in the Almanac/Palo Alto Weekly. She is running for State Assembly for Ira Ruskin's seat against Josh Becker and Rich Gordon.

Stanford Hospital and nurses still aren't getting along nicely. The hospitals just rejected a proposal from the nurses... who previously had rejected the "last, best, and final" offer from the hospital.

Just to give you fair warning, four students were sent home from school at Live Oak High School yesterday for wearing American flag t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo, it was viewed as incendiary. (Perhaps it was the t-shirts and the tight-cropped hair cuts...) This will be a controversial issue that will likely make Fox News, the Rush Limbaugh Show, and probably spark a Tea Party rally as well.

This is a story from Watch Dog San Mateo.. the Almanac actually... but it will send shock-waves up and down Silicon Valley. Menlo Park is imposing a two-tier pension system for its municipal employees. The beginning of a trend, or the shot heard round the union world?

More from San Mateo County... To Tweet (or Facebook) or not to Tweet during a City Council meeting... something that more than one Watch Dog has commented on in the past related to at least one San Jose City Council member whose name starts with P and ends in ETE. A Tweet from a Councilmember in San Carlos has stirred up the usually sleepy town...

Finally, Tom Campbell's campaign has released an online campaign video (and taken their gloves off) that you absolutely have to see. Seriously. It makes the weird sheep thing Carly Fiorina's campaign put out a while ago seem mild. Take a gander... love the head-bob...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.14.10: LaDoris LaWednesday...

It was a big day in San Jose... where to begin, where to begin...

How about the San Jose Independent Police Auditor?

There is a new one -- former Judge/ former Palo Alto City Councilmember LaDoris Cordell, which will make some people excited (like maybe those that would like an independent Independent Police Auditor) and will make some people less-than-excited (like those of you who like the way it's been). Watch Dog asks one question: Has there ever been an Independent Police Auditor that the Police Officers' Association liked? We'll take our answer off the air... (And our first call is from Scott Herhold, who called Cordell an "odd choice"... Herhold also wrote this: "...And I fear she may get frustrated living with the shackles..." Probably not the best choice of words...) San Jose Inside has a fresh quote from the San Jose POA chief George Beattie: “I have serious concerns about Ms. Cordell’s ability to be independent and objective. While she has a right to be associated with community groups that have historically been critical and antagonistic to our officers, this should raise questions about her ability to be objective, just as Chris Constantin was considered biased because of his relationships. I consider this a double standard.” Does Ms. Cordell's brother works at the ACLU and her sister works at DeBug that we don't know about?

The San Jose City Council tried to make having events in downtown San Jose a little bit easier to produce (cheaper actually)... of course, it may be too little too late for Tapestry and the fireworks...

San Jose Sharks are headed to the playoffs... let the bandwagon grow...

Speaking of the bandwagon growing... the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is looking to ban "single-use" plastic and paper bags. Surprise, surprise, Republican Don Gage is opposed to the ban and has found himself with an unlikely ally, former San Jose Councilmember/former Assemblymember/American Chemistry Council shill Manny Diaz... Diaz and Gage on the same side of things -- who'd a thunk?

Here's a shocker... a politically and ethically questionable tactics from the Dolores Carr camp. This time it isn't a conflict of interest with her husband's job or hiring two PR flacks while closing the cold-case unit or botching a rape case... rather, it is about her purchasing billboards throughout the County with her name on and have it paid for by the District Attorney's office... shady, shady, shady. But, we (ok, nobody) expects anything different...

Speaking of County politics... the race to replace Supervisor Gage heated up last night. (Honestly though, could anyone really replace Don Gage?) The candidates -- Forrest Williams, Teresa Alvarado, Tom Kruse (so handsome) and Mike Wasserman -- debated last night... (Peter Arellano pulled a Pete Constant and didn't show up...) From the story, it sounds like the key issue was who had the support of labor unions and if those that could could actually make real change at 801 W. Hedding... (Note: Only one candidate has had their consultant put on the California Labor Federation's "do not patronize" list, perhaps that is the one the union-bashing crowd should get behind. Just a thought.)

A San Jose State professor apprehended a guy trying to rob the downtown San Jose Wells Fargo bank yesterday. Seriously...

A major economic development project in Santa Clara is moving forward that hasn't been written about on Mission City Lantern... Yahoo!

While we're talking about economics... the economics of the City of Gilroy will be discussed in a Special City Council closed session tonight. Specifically they will discuss "unspecified aspects of the contract negotiations with police and fire"... Let Watch Dog specific: the contract negotiations aren't going well and the pension costs are going to bankrupt the City. Even if we all shopped at the outlets, it won't help Gilroy balance its future obligations... well, maybe if we went to Brooks Brothers.

A woman fell into an open manhole on Stanford's campus yesterday. No word if Senator Simitian is a looking to pass a "no texting while walking" law...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.9.10: Chuck and Larry getting hitched?

It will cost four or five times as much to have High-Speed Rail to go underground... that's the official word. Which means you HSR-NIMBYs should start bombarding the High-Speed Rail Authority now... Oh, and the train won't sit on "berms" in Palo Alto or Mountain View, in case you were concerned about that too...

The sale of the two parking lots in downtown San Jose (for $20 million to Sobrato) adds to the kitty being assembled to bring baseball to San Jose. There are more land sales pending for the baseball stadium, but apparently one of the parcels of land where the infield will be isn't for sale. An AT&T spokesperson, who speaks for the infield land-owners, said the land is not for sale. But when the infield does go on sale, the Redevelopment Agency should have the money now... thanks to the Sobratos.

Remember the Tapestry in Arts Festival in San Jose? You know, the Labor Day weekend celebration of local arts... well, you may have to remember it, because it might be going away. And by "might" we mean "probably is"... No fireworks on July 4th, no fancy car race in the summer, no Tapestry in Arts. The only thing that could save downtown San Jose in the summer is the Boys of Summer...

Say you had a job (which about 12% of you don't)... and your employer offered you a 4 percent pay hike and a $3,000 bonus, you'd probably take it right now, right? Well, not if you are a nurse at Stanford... you'd strike. We have nothing against nurses, in fact, we love you all -- but...

The Tech decided it was time to end the $200k/ year contract with the museum president's wife. Of course, that would have been the right decision before the contract even started...

In the blogosphere, San Jose Inside called Mayor Reed "Nuts" earlier in the week for endorsing Richard Calderon for Sheriff, and then yesterday they hint that the Mayor might be getting ready to endorse Larry Pegram... Watch Dog bets it will be today, as getting news like this out on a Friday helps sufficiently bury it for a while... Inside made the awesome reference to Chuck and Larry, which is ironic, as the film was about gay marriage... we will now use this reference whenever we refer to Mayor Reed and Larry Pegram together:

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.5.10: Garcia vs. Poizner...

First, the important stuff...

Go Stanford. Beat UConn...

Go A's. Beat Seattle (and move to San Jose...)

Now, to less important stuff...

The Mercury News Editorial Board (unsurprisingly) endorsed Jeff Rosen... But the language they used was harsh, and Watch Dog is certain that voters will see this phrase over and over again...: "...Dolores Carr has shown that she lacks the moral compass and clear judgment to serve as the county's top law enforcement official..."

Speaking of skyrocketing public employee pension and benefits cost... actually, we weren't, but this story is the result of those things: Pools in San Jose may not open as planned this summer. Swimming, swimming in the swimming pool, when days are hot, when days are cold, in the swimming pool... or not.

San Jose Councilmember Kansen Chu woke up Saturday morning to this headline: "San Jose Councilman Kansen Chu violated state, city limits on gifts..." No word yet if Chu's first call was to Sam Liccardo for advice...

Stanford and Palo Alto don't get along. If you missed that, then you are very, very new to Silicon Valley... In exchange for Palo Alto putting up a huge stink about Stanford's hospital expansion plans, Palo Alto wants Stanford to help pay for the the PAPD's new building. Usually those deals are cut behind closed doors, but this quid pro quo is right out in the public...

In other unsurprising news: Caltrain is in deep shit... and it may be taxpayers who need to keep it afloat, because riders can't afford the $50/day to ride the train what it would take to keep Caltrains running... Good times.

The folks at Protect San Jose can't type fast enough to counter this Merc profile of Raj Jayadev, the head of De-Bug and a thorn in the side of SJPD. You'll remember Raj as the dude the San Jose Police Officers' Association made fun of in their video last year. In an ironic twist, that video which mocked Raj actually gave him a bigger pedestal to blast the Police... now culminating in a (mostly) positive story about Raj and De-Bug. Good work SJPOA...

It was quite a day for Steve Poizner on Friday. Having nothing to do with his run for Governor, folks from the East Side Union High School District, and Mount Pleasant High School specifically, protested him at the mall where Poizner was signing his new book about teaching in the East Side Union High School District. In this news clip, we see Eddie Garcia getting in the face of Poizner. Poizner could have responded, "Mr. Garcia, as soon as the voters elect you to something, I will listen..." But Poizner didn't do that...

Speaking of troubled high schools... a victim of a stabbing was dropped off (or stabbed) at the entrance to Gilroy High School.

Yesterday was Sunday, which is the reporters at the Merc fun day, at least in terms of Internal Affairs. Here's the fun stuff we learned...

• The Santa Clara County Bar Association like Jeff Rosen better than Dolores Carr... so does Scott Herhold and nearly everyone who works in the DA's office...
• The East Side Superintendent that got fired before the most recent one got fired is getting fired again... from the Alisal Union School District. They sure do know how to pick 'em at ESUHSD...
• And perhaps most shocking is this: Steve Poizner had a man-crush on Ron Gonzales... Oh, as shocking, someone actually had to read Poizner's book to find out that info...

One task force to talk about tree removal and another to talk about tree planting. That's the plan for TJ Martin and Fontana Parks in San Jose because PG&E needs to remove trees and neighbors are not pleased...

The Merc Editorial Board continues with its political endorsements... beyond the really fun one for Jeff Rosen, a really not fun unendorsement for Proposition 17... which is funded by Mercury Insurance. (Note to Mercury Insurance: Please don't raise Watch Dog's rates...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 9.29.09: Lawyers = Prostitutes?

Stanford Law grad Cristina Warthen surprised the feds and the Judge when she continued advertising an evening of “companionship” while she was on trial for evading taxes on the ill-gotten gains of “companionship.” Assistant U.S. Attorney David Callaway said Warthens internet ads were “a wink and a nod” to “advertising high end prostitution.” The oldest profession practiced by lawyers -- we know there is a joke there somewhere about screwing people...

Putting Stanford grads in a less-imprisoned light… Googlers Sergey Brin and Larry Page had high praise for their old friend and mentor Rajeev Motwani saying the “impact he had through the many researchers and entrepreneurs” out shown his own numerous accomplishments. Following Motwani’s death earlier this year Brin and Page decided to create an endowed chair at Stanford in their friends honor.

The Soul of the Community is pretty good, according to a survey funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. San Jose residents found affordable housing one of the biggest problems and a few were unhappy about the closing of stab-ariffic Club Wet

The community’s soul may be good for some but for others it’s about to get worse. The Emergency Housing Consortium announced closure of half the beds available to the homeless. Santa Clara County Office of Affordable Housing Director Margie Matthews said “this is all about the economy, and EHC – like all nonprofits… “ is “having to cut back…”

East Side Union Trustees ended Friday night without a decision on their embattled Superintendent Bob Nunez, currently on paid leave from his $225,000 gig. Marisa Hanson, President of the East Side Teachers Association, said delaying the decision was the right thing to do “the County report found him innocent … but then the board went ahead with another investigation…” Nobody mentioned the court of public opinion...

San Jose High celebrates the small victories. Test scores are up following “unrelenting hard work” with teachers and the principal showing the love. Not as happy was East Side Union School Board President Patricia Martinez-Roach who said there was “absolutely no excuse” for their low test scores. Except maybe those pesky budget problems and the ongoing Bob Nunez controversy. Or perhaps because they have twice un-elected officials on their Board...

Los Gatos sold 13 acres of Vasona Park last year for $6 million, then they voted unanimously to use half that to purchase 2.7 acres near Vasona Park, with ready buildings, for a mega-sports complex... y'know, for kids...

Gilroy Schools saw an increase in students even as districts across the state are closing schools. District enrollment coordinator Roger Cornia blamed the economy saying private school wasn’t in the cards for many students, not when Mom and Dad are facing layoffs.

Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro hosted a 5 hour community round-table that drew criticism from Council colleague Perry Woodward “Let’s be honest – this was the mayor’s show… how he intends to defeat the recall… Councilmembers should be allowed to participate… instead of the mayor imposing his political views…” Gilroy sure has more interesting politics than San Jose...

Palo Alto City Managers and professional employees contemplate becoming Teamsters even as some of their prospective members argue wage cuts with unionized service workers.

Mission City Lantern takes a poke at “wonderful human being, a great person to have as a friend” Labor leader/(former) Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez. With friends like that...

Morning News Round-Up -- 9.25.09: Who's in for Club Wet this weekend?

The Merc’s Editorial Board sends props to San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis for firing officers involved in a drunk driving coverup and their own Sean Webby for watch-dogging the news of imminent firings. This won't be received well (we guess) from the good folks at Protect San Jose.

As (self-imposed) furlough days go…. Palo Alto workers were all in purple as they marched outside City Hall to protest contract cuts. The Merc’s (union member) Patty Fisher is sympathetic though she shares the words of Pamela Polos wondering about the wisdom of striking these days "Instead of demonstrating for their own benefits, I wish they were out there marching for national health care reform." You and the Palo Alto City Council Patty...

Sunnyvale recycling workers received an unexpected surprise among the grimy cardboard and soda cans - $100 bills rained from the ceiling. If you think the mystery money is yours, call the Sunnyvale Public Works Department.

"Warehousing kids does not teach them what family is all about," said foster youth advocate/former warehouse resident Hemal Sharifzada. And so, Santa Clara County prepares to close the 132-bed children's “warehouse” and move abused and neglected kids to “wrap around” care facilities.

Former Mountain View Mayor Rosemary Stasek passed away in Afghanistan where she was working with the women of Afghanistan with A Little Help in Kabul. Sad story. We like Rosemary a lot...

More sad economic news comes from the Merc’s Sal Pizarro. Silicon Valley FACES ditched their fundraiser.

Swine flu fears have caused the (official) demise of Stanford’s kissing frenzy, Full Moon. How else are shy first-year students supposed to get any action then?

San Jose MetBlogger Matt Bruensteiner celebrates the demise of the plastic bag and sends San Jose’s City Council kudos.

Mission City Lantern executes a little time traveling fable drawing in the Mission City’s neighbor to the South.

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo looks for an Education Governor and tosses his support behind new Dad/ Gubernatorial wanna be Gavin Newsom. We are certain that this should put Newsom over the top...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.24.09: (Figurative) Middle Finger Edition...

Drama!...Last night several community members of the Public Intoxication Task Force (a.k.a. Drunk Task Force) gave the (figurative) middle finger to the City of San Jose. They don't like how they've been treated in the Task Force or by the Consortium or by the City Manager who refuses to release the records they need...to be continued, and continued, and continued...

The Sharks lost, again...Perhaps its because their lucky charm, Councilmember Liccardo, has been staying away?

Watch Dog isn't the only one who like fancy Silicon Valley towns, it seems more and more families with young kids are moving there as well. Perhaps its the schools...or perhaps its the square footage...

That "Groundwater Extraction Fee" that you've been paying to the Santa Clara Valley Water District may be coming back to you in a refund. A Superior Court Judge ruled the fee illegal and now the Water District may have to refund tens of millions of dollars to customers. This won't be good for the Water District's budget, one can presume. It also may have some political implications -- but we haven't written about this race yet, but we will soon...

These guys heads are going to explode as the learn about the prevalence of Sexting...no filters are going to stop this...

The Los Gatos Observer gets back in the game giving a profile of one of the bright spots on the economic horizon...Los Gatos' own Netflix.

The Principal from Gilroy High School is heading north the new Principal at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale. From Mustang to Firebird...

While we are in South County schools, the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board approved layoffs and other budget cuts. Much to the chagrin of SEIU President Pam Torrisi, who described the District's actions this way: "You're kicking somebody in the teeth when they're already down..."

The next chapter in Stanford development is being written right now. Recently, Stanford gave up Mall expansion plans in order to focus on hospital expansion and other campus efforts. But the City of Palo Alto is not done complaining/micromanaging what happens at Stanford. Palo Alto wants Stanford to connect any new development with an "urban village," whatever that is...

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.15.09: Post Marked (by midnight) Edition...

San Jose’s City Council learned their deficit is growing and the stock market meltdown requires San Jose officials to cough up an additional $50 million (or more) to recover the over $1 billion lost in the employee pension fund. The bad news led Councilmembers to quibble over details of the disaster. Councilmember Nancy Pyle urged not to plan the next 5 years based on bad news, Councilmember Sam Liccardo pointed out that even “great stock market returns…doesn’t get us out of the hole.”

Unless you live under a rock, you know San Jose Police are under the microscope for
their Drunk Latino arrests. Now it seems Santa Clara County arrests far more juveniles than almost anywhere else in California. The (not-so) lucky officials in San Jose arrest the highest percentage of the youth. Police Chief Rob Davis says, “We firmly believe other alternatives are more effective in helping these youth.” The hits just keep on coming for the Police Chief...

and, just in time…

San Jose’s City Council has (finally) found a new Independent Police Auditor. Senior City Auditor Chris Constantin steps into former Independent Police Auditor Barbara Attard's shoes (and her salary) with support from Silicon Valley De-Bug’s Raj Jayadev. The appointment was questioned by ACLU Director Skyler Porras.

The demise of traditional newspapers is all the rage, San Jose Revealed jumps into the act advocating for the survival of hyper-local news. Yeah, kinda like what Watch Dog Silicon Valley does but without the snark. EveryBlock San Jose has cool charts showing the number of police calls -- 25,000 in the past month.

If you put off filing those taxes, you’re not alone. San Jose’s H&R Block office was open until 11pm Monday and the post office is open to midnight. One (anonymous) taxpayer still coughing up money for back taxes from a failed business is pissed he’s not getting any reduction while AIG walks with $100 billion. Looking on the bright side, Claudia Hill with TaxMam in Cupertino said with the reduced incomes (layoffs) more people are getting refunds this year.

San Jose icon Hicklebee’s hits 30 with a big party Saturday and an award from Senator Joe Simitian for being the small business of the year. Being the small business of the year in this economy is no small feat...

Pissed off Mountain View NIMBYs have asked the anti-immigrant Judicial Watch to help shut down a Day Worker center. The D.C. based bigots are “helping” around the country to shut down “sanctuary” cities. They didn’t do their homework well, Mountain View is not a “sanctuary” city, but this might encourage them to become one.

This is big news, especially if you are Stanford or the City of Palo Alto. Stanford dropped its plans to expand its Mall with new shops and a hotel. Stanford says it is because that expansion has been a distraction from their hospital and other expansion plans on campus. (Perhaps the economy has something to do with it too...) Former Palo Alto City Councilmember Bern Beecham had a different take. He is blaming the much talked-about "Palo Alto Process" for the demise of the Mall plan and said, "To me, this is a real black eye for the city process..." Tell us how you really feel Bern.

Los Altos City Council is ready to launch “Shop Los Altos” to separate you from your dwindling dollars. Julie Rose with the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce said it sends the message that Los Altos loves its business community.

The cratering economy is hitting local non-profits hard. Santa Clara County’s Healthy Kid’s wants to take care of 12 uninsured Morgan Hill children, they asked Morgan Hill for the dollars to make it so. Councilmember Larry Carr wants to help and asked the Community Health Foundation to cover the costs, after all, he said, we gave you a half million…

While we're in Morgan Hill...

Morgan Hill is laying people off and giving others raises. This has some Councilmembers scratching their heads. Councilmember Marby Lee wants to talk about the incongruity of firing people and paying the remain folks more. City Manager Ed Tewes said the failing property tax revenues means another $1 million out of City coffers.

San Jose Insider/Santa Clara County Board of Ed Trustee Joseph DiSalvo sends us back a few days and showing the report card to the parents. DiSalvo makes his case for doing away with grades and focusing on learning.

Keep your iPod at home is the word from Mountain View Police. Petty thieves are increasingly breaking car windows to steal everything from your smelly gym bag to iPods – so keep your stuff in your home, if that hasn't been taken away yet...

How did we miss this? Tesla CEO Elon Musk was pissed local gossip blog was getting the dish from insiders and set a trap by sending everyone their own personalized memo. Small problem, General Counsel Craig Harding sent everyone his “fingerprint” edition. Some smart aleck figured out the Musk idea and promptly sent the Harding memo to Valley Wag. (Tesla Chronicles here...)

Morning News Round-Up -- 3.12.09: More Former Mayors in the News...

Baseball is back in the news…Mayor Chuck Reed and Company settled on an April 7 public meeting about bringing the A’s to San Jose. The decision followed input from the A's to San Jose Study Group Co-Chair Michael Mulcahy...and residents for and against a little springtime action. Metro’s Erin Sherbert weighs in on the growing excitement about the A’s. So does the Baseball San Jose blog...

The Merc’s Scott Herhold dedicates his space to musings over the Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins/Cindy Chavez shuffle at the South Bay Labor Council -- the impact to the Labor movement, to City Hall, and to local politics overall. (Herhold also mentions another Former Mayor in his piece...bringing the week's total of San Jose's Former Mayors mentioned on Watch Dog to 2, Former Mayoral Candidates remain at 3, and Current Mayors at 1.)

San Jose Inside/Metro’s Fly has been cruising Facebook (again) and found San Jose Councilmember Pete Constant's Chief of Staff, Jim Cogan, once again expressing an opinion in opposition to his boss. High on the list of all time best lines, Fly accuses Cogan of “performing rhetorical backflips” to explain his support of an anti-Internet filter group ‘Books Not Filters’. (There is no truth to the rumor that Constant is searching for his ball gag for Jim...)

San Jose Inside blogger/Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio blogs that those who “choose to live outside” (i.e., homeless) are here because San Jose is unable to put a border around itself. Tough talk for a guy with a guaranteed job…

The Merc’s Editorial Board puzzles over the "layoffs" at San Jose’s City Hall. Expect a loud (obvious) response from San Jose Revealed...

The San Jose Medical Center closed its doors in 2004, with neighbors in an uproar over the loss of a downtown hospital. The Merc’s Editorial Board lends its support to a Gardner Family Health Network urgent care facility to replace at least some of the medical services for San Jose’s growing downtown. A few obstacles lay in the path of making this real – most notably the former SJMC owner HCA who is not likely to support a competitor. (HCA also runs/owns Regional Medical Center...)

San Jose’s Elections Commission is irritated by the anonymity of a complaint against former Mayor/lobbyist Tom McEnery. (Former Mayor count is now at 3 for the week...) Chairman Fred de Funiak is irked that Commission rules allow for anonymous sources but is unwilling to change those rules in the middle of the McEnery complaint. Attorney James McManis points out the complaint is based on public information...

McManis is busy these days...

James McManis is pleased to see the end of the decade long gambling lawsuit. His client, Bay 101 and San Jose’s other gambling paradise, Garden City, will be able to remain open 24 hours. Gamblers must, however take a mandatory 4 hour bet-free break. One wonders exactly how that will be enforced…

San Jose Revealed uncovers the insecurities that San Jose struggles with: does anyone know the way to San Jose, does anyone really care? Revealed poses questions about San Jose’s political relevance both State- and nation-wide while wondering when San Jose Mayors will get press for something other than being a stiff, a philanderer, a criminal, or all three.

Saratoga Mayor Chuck Page calls it a victory in the making. The Council has asked staff to examine Saratoga's permitting process with an eye towards decreasing the number of eyes that have to review. Will Saratoga NIMBYs still be allowed to oppose permits?

Warning to anyone living near a Caltrain line: an improvement project will be keeping you up at night, at least temporarily. Eventually the rail grinding project will decrease the noise but for now anyone hoping to sleep between 10 pm and 4:30 am better get earplugs.

A suspicious package in Palo Alto down the street from a Jewish day school caused the school's evacuation. The make-shift package was made to look like a bomb and carried with it a menacing note...That is a scary story...

So is this...Sunnyvale as beach front property? The Pacific Institute has released a report identifying Alviso, along with hazardous dump sites, power plants, sewer plants, and communities around the Bay as being in danger as sea levels rise. Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council, recommends moving at high speed to resolve the problem. (Watch Dog San Mateo laments the possible loss of a blog-buddy during the rising tides...)

The City of Palo Alto and Stanford University don't always get along. Although neighbors and inextricably linked, land-use and taxes and traffic and housing cause all kinds of disputes. Take the proposed new hospital Stanford would like to build. Palo Alto is concerned about the impacts to roads, housing, etc. The City of Palo Alto and Stanford officials are set to meet to discuss the hospital and other Stanford-expansion projects in 3 days...in a thinly-veiled move to make the hospital look better to residents (and perhaps to the Palo Alto City Council as well) -- Stanford released a report yesterday pointing out that the hospital expansion would add $18 million in revenue to the City of Palo Alto...

Morning News Round-Up -- 2.4.09: Hoping for Rain Edition...

(Before we begin...Last evening, Watch Dog posted a correction to its latest Tesla story. Please click here to see the correction...)

A good Samaritan from San Jose found a cell phone at the Club Monte Carlo in Mountain View and offered to return the phone. During the phone exchange, the 23 year old was stabbed for his good deeds. That'll teach you to be nice...

In other violent news...A young man was attacked and beaten while 3 dozen horrified middle-schoolers watched. His attackers took off when on field adults ran to him. A suspect, possibly a Yerba Buena student, was arrested Tuesday.

Finally, a feel good story today...The sons of Mexican immigrant day laborers went to Stanford, worked at Google, and now have a start-up of their own. Bismarck and Bel Lepe, along with fellow Stanford grad and friend Sean Knapp, founded Ooyala. 45-employees strong and growing.

Publicly funded campaigns are on hold in Sunnyvale...again. This time, the discussion has been moved to 2010 to study. At the same time the City Council will discuss moving elections to even numbered years for a potential cost savings of $300,000. Vice Mayor Chris Moylan says public funding would level the playing field and make it easier for more people to run. Councilmember Dave Whittum suggested the public funding could be $5,000 rather than the suggested $25,000. Whittum managed to run his 2007 campaign with just over $5,000, of course, most of which appears to be in loans to himself.

Also in Sunnyvale...officials have moved one step closer accomplishing a nearly 20 year old vision and connecting the Stevens Creek Trail along a (not even) quarter mile route through the City.

The Ford Store in Morgan Hill will be getting its own form of bailout bucks. The City Council voted to let the store keep more of their tax dollars through 2012. Short-term gain for the store will turn into long term benefits for the City (if they stay in business). Councilmember Greg Sellers called the restructured tax deal a “triple win for the City.” Ford Store president Tim Paulus has sold cars for 35 years and says he’s very appreciative of the City’s help. Watch Dog should think so...

In a poll that’s a disheartening sign of the times, the Morgan Hill Times wants to hear from homeowners – do you owe more than your home is worth?

San Jose Inside’s (and the County Office of Education Board Member) Joseph DiSalvo voices support for prevention over cure when it comes to gang violence. DiSalvo quotes Ghandi in saying, “If we are to teach real peace we must begin with the children,” and asks the County Board of Education to direct their dollars towards prevention at their March 18 meeting.

Mission City Lantern gives props to Watch Dog Silicon Valley and urges his readers to visit – thank you James. Lantern takes time to praise Santa Clara’s Planning Commission and, it would seem, the members of Santa Clara’s City Council – calling all of them caring, respectful, and intelligent.

The US's biggest science fan in D.C. will be happy to hear the Youth Science Institute exceeded their fundraising goal. The kids at San Jose’s Lietz Elementary pulled together 150,000 pennies and a generous (unnamed) husband and wife science team gave a very generous $50,000. Executive Director Suzanne Mulcahy said, “we are very, very grateful.” Board president Mark Lohbeck, himself a beneficiary of the YSI programs, called the campaign’s success “…a testament to the impact YSI has made through the years.”